Survey Shows State Most Fond Of Bush

Courant/uconn Connecticut Poll

WASHINGTON — Connecticut residents view George Bush as their favorite president of the last generation.

A new Courant/Connecticut Poll found that Bush, who was soundly beaten in his 1992 re-election bid, is seen far differently today.

FOR THE RECORD - Correction was published Tuesday October 12, 1999 on Page A2.* Two figures were incorrect in a graphic on Page A6 Monday about Connecticut residents' approval of the job done by former presidents. Former President Ford was rated as excellent or good by 28 percent of those polled, and by 25 percent of Republicans.

This warm view of the 41st president is widely shared across the country, as Bush's son, the governor of Texas, tries to become the first son of a president to win the White House since John Quincy Adams in 1824.

The image of the father is clearly giving the candidate a boost.

The state poll showed that 58 percent rated the elder Bush as an excellent or good president, giving him a higher approval rating than even Ronald Reagan, who was regarded that way by 53 percent, or President Clinton, at 55 percent. The telephone poll of 507 state residents was conducted Sept. 21-28 by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

The outburst of affection for a man decisively rejected seven years ago is seen as nostalgia for Bush's style and personality. He was known as a solid family man, close to his wife and children, a contrast to Clinton, whose extramarital affair in the White House led to his December 1998 impeachment.

``People may have decided their rejection of George Bush was not the right thing to have done,'' said G. Donald Ferree Jr., poll director.

Linda DiVall, pollster for former Cabinet secretary and Republican presidential candidate Elizabeth H. Dole, said the affection for the father has become a political problem for the son's rivals.

``The father still enjoys so much respect. A lot of Republicans feel they let him down,'' she said.

Ferree's survey comes as historians and politicians engage in debate over the best presidents of the century. Reagan, popular when he left office, is almost deified by Republicans, and his national approval ratings remain high.

Of the men who served in the White House in the latter third of the century, ``Ronald Reagan will be judged most favorably in the history books, according to Americans today,'' said Lydia Saad, analyst for the Gallup poll.

Reagan's stature has grown. In 1993, some 38 percent of those surveyed thought he would go down as one of the better U.S. presidents. In August, 54 percent felt that way.

Jimmy Carter, whose loss in 1980 was the first by a previously elected incumbent since Herbert Hoover in 1932, is also seen more favorably. Gallup found 30 percent in August saying he would be remembered as outstanding or above average; the state poll said 35 percent viewed him as excellent or good.

The numbers were well above the 16 percent who categorized him that way in a 1993 Gallup survey.

Richard Nixon, on the other hand, continued to lag. He got favorable reviews from 29 percent of state respondents and 22 percent in the Gallup poll.

``Despite the passage of time, the Watergate scandal remains top-of- mind for the majority of the American public,'' said Gallup Poll President Frank Newport.

Experts believe that the public's view of a president is shaped by two key factors.

First, as Ferree put it, is ``how you remember a certain period of time.'' People who did well economically in the 1980s may be more inclined to remember Reagan fondly, for instance.

Second, people's attitudes change as historians and analysts remind them of different facets of the presidency. Experts will be watching to see if the vacuous Reagan portrayed in Edmund Morris' controversial biography, ``Dutch,'' changes minds.

Bush has clearly benefited from this revisionism. He is portrayed as enjoying life today, skydiving and giving fatherly advice to his son.

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%% A GENERATION OF PRESIDENTS

How would you rate the job Bill Clinton is doing as president?

Excellent 11%

Good 44

Fair 28

Poor 16

Don't know 1

[Library note: The above portion of this graphic was published as a pie graph. It was not available in that form for this database.]

Total job approval: 55%

Among own party: 76%

How would you rate the job each of the following did as president:

George Bush

Excellent 9%

Good 49%

Total job approval: 58%

Among own party: 84%

Ronald Reagan

Excellent 14%

Good 39

Total job approval: 53%

Among own party: 83%

Jimmy Carter

Excellent 6%

Good 29

Total job approval: 35%

Among own party: 43%

Gerald Ford

Excellent 3%

Good 25%

Total job approval: 55%

Among own party: 76%

Richard Nixon

Excellent 5%

Good 24

Total job approval: 29%

Among own party: 48%

%% ****************************************************

How the poll was done

* This Courant/Connecticut Poll was done by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut from Sept. 21-28. A total of 507 randomly selected state residents were interviewed by telephone. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number and may not add up to 100.

The poll, directed by G. Donald Ferree Jr., has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. This means there is a 1-in-20 chance that the results would differ by more than 5 points in either direction from the results of a survey of all adult residents.

A poll's margin of error increases as the sample size shrinks. Results for a subgroup within the poll have a higher margin of error.

The telephone numbers were generated by a computer in proportion to the number of adults living in each area. The actual respondent in each household also was selected at random.